Wenger: ‘Thierry showed he is a special player’

Monday night was a special occasion with Thierry Henry making his comeback but I was not surprised that he scored the winning goal.
Already in training I have seen that he is sharp and ready to play, and I would not put him on the pitch if he was not ready because that would be unfair.

Thierry is a special player and what is good for the young players at the club is that a guy who has done it all comes and prepares 100 per cent, warms up, is focused and motivated, and comes on with an immense desire to do well.

Before he went on I just told him to play through the middle. You don’t need to tell him too much more because he has seen it all and done it all. You could see when he came on he had a presence on the pitch and if we could find him, we knew he would be dangerous.

He was already a legend here and now he has added a bit more to the story. It was a very happy dressing room afterwards because the players were very happy when he decided to come back. He gives us other options offensively as well.

As for Thierry’s goal, it was a little bit like a dream. It’s the kind of football story you tell to children because our game is not often like that. But sometimes it happens and it happened for Thierry.

Robin van Persie will be back for the Swansea game and I have not decided yet whether I will play him and Thierry together from the start. They can play together, of course, and they did play together before Thierry left five years ago.

Thierry got all the headlines after Monday night but it was a team effort and I want to praise my players for their spirit and determination against a difficult Leeds United side. We worked very hard and just missed something in our finishing until late in the game.

The only negative was that Francis Coquelin suffered a hamstring injury and I expect him to be out for a few weeks. I hope Johan Djourou will be back for Sunday’s game at Swansea and if we can find another defensive solution we will take it.